Gang effort under fire

The effectiveness of Albany's gang-prevention program eyed as coordinator probed

by JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST Staff writer

Published 8:40 pm, Tuesday, September 21, 2010

ALBANY -- City lawmakers want to see proof that Albany's gang prevention program is working.

As the city's gang prevention specialist, Ron "Cook" Barrett, remains on administrative leave while an outside counsel investigates allegations that he claimed sick time while he was being paid to speak at engagements outside the city, Common Council members peppered his boss with questions Tuesday night about how she even knows if Barrett's program is succeeding.

The questions about Barrett's time sheets were first raised by the Times Union last month.

"If you go up to the juvenile detention center, the kids up there will tell you that Cook Barrett is joke," said Councilman Ron Bailey, who represents parts of Arbor Hill and West Hill and who conceded that, in his youth, he was once a member of a gang.

Bailey questioned the Barrett's qualifications, which Andrews defended, citing his ability to talk to teens at their level without talking down to them.

"I don't know if that's something that you can put on a job description," Andrews said. "He's amassed a lot of knowledge."

But Bailey suggested that might be confusing bluster with substance.

"It's more than just going up to kids with a chain around your neck, saying 'Yo, yo, yo," Bailey said afterward.

Councilman Anton Konev -- vice chairman of the Parks, Recreation and Family Services Committee, which conducted Tuesday's hearing -- pressed Andrews for statistics about how many of the kids are actively involved in the program and how many have actually stayed out of gangs. Konev also sought information about whether the program was referring kids to related social services, such as family or drug intervention programs.

Councilwoman Jacquelyn Jenkins-Cox wanted to information on how much follow-up is being done with kids in the program to ensure they're getting the help they need.

Faye said Barrett -- who comprises the city's entire gang-prevention staff and has been on paid leave since Aug. 13 -- currently has much of that information. She also stressed that kids' participation in the program -- which she said she's been running in Barrett's absense -- is completely voluntary.

"I'm not convinced that the program is not successful," Konev said after the hearing, "but there's nothing that shows me that this program is successful."

Committee Chairman John Rosenzweig deflected member's questions about Barrett's time sheets, citing the ongoing investigation. Bob Van Amburgh, a senior aide to Mayor Jerry Jennings, said Tuesday that there's no deadline for that investigation to be complete but that the city's hopes it will be soon.

Barrett is also a member of the city's Gun Violence Prevention Implementation Team, a volunteer panel that has been charged with implementing the recommendations of the Gun Violence Task Force.

Councilwoman Barbara Smith, who also represents North Albany and parts of Arbor Hill, expressed concerns that Barrett spoke about several gang programs -- which Andrews said lapsed years ago when grant funding ran out -- in the present tense as recently as last year when he asked the council to appoint him to the team.

Yusuf Burgess, a community activist with experience in gang prevention with groups including the Boys and Girls Club, said the city's whole approach to dealing with gangs is wrongheaded to the extent that it relies on just one person to perform three very different, but vital, jobs.

Gang prevention, or keeping kids out of gangs, is different from gang intervention, which deals with youth already involved in them, Burgess said. And neither of those are the same as re-integration, which involves giving former gang members opportunities to become productive outside of them.